New Member to the Hat Forum

[The Spaniard]

Ah, Signes is the one I was thinking of as the other one to mention. Don't have one and always looking to pick one up when available. The good news is that if you look on America eBay there should be many sellers with hats available at good prices in smaller sizes. It is always possible to buy a size bigger than normal and size down with weather stripping or hat sizers that can be bought online.

The problem buying from USA is that I have to pay customs and taxes. Buying from EU region I avoid it. But i will take a look at eBay. And I will search what is a hat sizer. I placed a EVA strip behind the sweatband on the Fernández y Roché hat to improve the fit.

 

[jeffgarf]

The problem buying from USA is that I have to pay customs and taxes. Buying from EU region I avoid it. But i will take a look at eBay. And I will search what is a hat sizer. I placed a EVA strip behind the sweatband on the Fernández y Roché hat to improve the fit.

eBay should have EU sellers too. I have purchased from Italy and Poland there as well.

 

[rogueclimber]

I register some years ago, but I have not written until yesterday.
I have not many hut yet, and my first hat was a Panama trilby. Since then I felt interest on hats but here in Spain few people wear hats and find it estrange when someone is wearing a hat. Because of it I have not used hats in other season than summer. Moreover, I live in a small town. I should change it.
I have still much to learn about hats and how to wear it.

Welcome

Biggest lesson I learned here on TFL is:

"Just wear the hat"

Matters not what others think, only that you enjoy it

 

[Blare]

I register some years ago, but I have not written until yesterday.
I have not many hut yet, and my first hat was a Panama trilby. Since then I felt interest on hats but here in Spain few people wear hats and find it estrange when someone is wearing a hat. Because of it I have not used hats in other season than summer. Moreover, I live in a small town. I should change it.
I have still much to learn about hats and how to wear it.

Welcome aboard.

 

[The Spaniard]

eBay should have EU sellers too. I have purchased from Italy and Poland there as well.

I have searched on eBay and I don't like what I have found. I find more interesting hats on platforms like wallapop or vinted.

 

[The Spaniard]

Welcome

Biggest lesson I learned here on TFL is:

"Just wear the hat"

Matters not what others think, only that you enjoy it

Thank you.
You are right, I should think that too, but I am a little shy. Moreover, in Spain there are too many stupid person, specially in the towns where criticize is the main hobby.

Welcome aboard.

Thank you.

 

[rogueclimber]

Thank you.
You are right, I should think that too, but I am a little shy. Moreover, in Spain there are too many stupid person, specially in the towns where criticize is the main hobby.



Thank you.

I live in LA! I fully get what you mean. Stick around this great forum and you'll learn to ignore the critics

 

[The Spaniard]

I live in LA! I fully get what you mean. Stick around this great forum and you'll learn to ignore the critics

LA is a very big city.
The town where I live has almost 10,000 citizens. The most of the people know each other.

 

[TheEnglishSwede]

Hello all,

I thought that it was maybe time to introduce myself here.

The name is Mike, born and raised in England, but moved to Sweden some years ago. As the case tend to be - I've been lurking in the shadows for some time, but recently I have acquired hat or two that I feel might be worth showing off.

My previous job in healthcare took it's toll on me and my health, so when I went back to 'real mechanical' engineering I took advice of an article and decided to re-invent myself . I upgraded most of my wardrobe and started to stray into hats.

I live on a farm and my daily is a cheap kangaroo leather hat that must be a little over 15 years. I can be honest and say that I haven't taken good care of it - it gets worn in all weathers, thrown around, occasionally chewed on by a horse, but it just keeps on going - it will truly be a sad day when I part with it.

On my rare trips to the big cities I do really enjoy seeing people wearing hats, it is so unfortunate that so few people do it nowadays - so with your help I hope to give back that enjoyment to others in the future.

All the best

Mike

 

[jeffgarf]

Hello all,

I thought that it was maybe time to introduce myself here.

The name is Mike, born and raised in England, but moved to Sweden some years ago. As the case tend to be - I've been lurking in the shadows for some time, but recently I have acquired hat or two that I feel might be worth showing off.

My previous job in healthcare took it's toll on me and my health, so when I went back to 'real mechanical' engineering I took advice of an article and decided to re-invent myself . I upgraded most of my wardrobe and started to stray into hats.

I live on a farm and my daily is a cheap kangaroo leather hat that must be a little over 15 years. I can be honest and say that I haven't taken good care of it - it gets worn in all weathers, thrown around, occasionally chewed on by a horse, but it just keeps on going - it will truly be a sad day when I part with it.

On my rare trips to the big cities I do really enjoy seeing people wearing hats, it is so unfortunate that so few people do it nowadays - so with your help I hope to give back that enjoyment to others in the future.

All the best

Mike

Welcome, Mike. Glad to have you in.

 

[RickP]

Welcome aboard!

 

[singlechange]

Hello all,

I thought that it was maybe time to introduce myself here.

The name is Mike, born and raised in England, but moved to Sweden some years ago. As the case tend to be - I've been lurking in the shadows for some time, but recently I have acquired hat or two that I feel might be worth showing off.

My previous job in healthcare took it's toll on me and my health, so when I went back to 'real mechanical' engineering I took advice of an article and decided to re-invent myself . I upgraded most of my wardrobe and started to stray into hats.

I live on a farm and my daily is a cheap kangaroo leather hat that must be a little over 15 years. I can be honest and say that I haven't taken good care of it - it gets worn in all weathers, thrown around, occasionally chewed on by a horse, but it just keeps on going - it will truly be a sad day when I part with it.

On my rare trips to the big cities I do really enjoy seeing people wearing hats, it is so unfortunate that so few people do it nowadays - so with your help I hope to give back that enjoyment to others in the future.

All the best

Mike

Since you live on a farm now, you just might enjoy wearing a Stetson western hat like mine here. It is vintage and probably from early 1960s or late 1950s. I shaped it into a 5 inch tall crown and 3 1/2 inch wide brim. This No. 1 Quality model was the cheapest western offered by Stetson in that era, but has nice quality felt I think. These vintage Stetsons can be found easily in the U.S.A. After the 1970s, Stetson was sold to another company. Welcome to this nice forum with friendly members.

 

[klcity]

Welcome, Hats Matter! That Silverbelly is a stunner. With your taste, I wouldn't be surprised if a sharp wool beret found its way into the rotation, simple, stylish, and easy to wear.

 

[Judgmentalist]

Hello everyone

I’m new here. I stumbled onto this place while obsessively researching hats, thinking that this would be a good place to find hats on the resale market. I have instead found amazing boots and jackets .

Seems counterintuitive at first but I think I’m starting to get it - you don’t buy nuts from a squirrel, is the vibe I’m getting lol.

I’ve never worn hats but I’ve always thought the only hat that looked good on me was a bowler. Unfortunately, my wife disagrees. She thinks I have a tendency to let my more eccentric choices wear me, and I can’t understand why she doesn’t want me to have a personality. That being said she is really good at this stuff, and mostly I listen to her.

I had been losing a bunch of weight and at the moment I’m pretty well settled in at 5’8” 180 lbs.

I’ve been rebuilding my wardrobe, focusing mostly on nice suits and blazers. I’ve been feverishly working on adding a few hats to the mix with very limited success. I bought the cheapest bowler and Homburg I could find and I have been waging a ‘hearts and minds’ campaign around the house. The bowler is not gaining any traction, but we are about 50/50 on the Homburg. I am highly focused on dress-adjacent styles and materials. I may get a classic fedora to start. My wife seems to think this suits my proportions better than the Homburg shape. I gravitate toward the Homburg because of the dress provenance and I like to be just a hair to the side of the beaten path.

I’ve not historically been a fan of western hats, which is frustrating, because there is a lot of cool stuff going on in the custom western market.

I bought a straw Stetson Open Road, because I like the crown, the brim kinda leans away from heavy western, and I thought it was a low cost point of entry. I took it out of the box and it was an immediate fail, both on looks and fit. I need a long oval block, apparently, and the Stetson was tight front and back and loose on the sides. We both thought it was going to work with my summer suits and it just didn’t look right on. Also I wasn’t prepared for it to be so stiff, though in retrospect it seems like I should have figured that out. We boxed back up and sent it back.

I’ve been working my way up the research food chain to the point where I am almost convinced I’m going to end up with a Panama from Brent Black, a fedora from Optimo and a Homburg from Lock & Co.

One of the problems with this plan is I can’t try any of this stuff before I buy. I live out in the boonies, and traveling to where these hats live is problematic for the most part.

I’m about 2 minutes away from buying a conformateur off of Etsy or something.

TL/DR - help me figure out what hat theoretically works for me (I read that hat guide I found here) and how to get from where I am to where I am going without burning a pallet of money along the way, please and thank you.

The size of the crown on the Open Road feels like it fits me better, but something about the front view isn’t working I don’t think.

Looking at the Open Road and the Homburg side by side the Homburg crown and brim both look a little small. What do you guys think?

 

[jeffgarf]

Hello everyone

I’m new here. I stumbled onto this place while obsessively researching hats, thinking that this would be a good place to find hats on the resale market. I have instead found amazing boots and jackets .

Seems counterintuitive at first but I think I’m starting to get it - you don’t buy nuts from a squirrel, is the vibe I’m getting lol.

I’ve never worn hats but I’ve always thought the only hat that looked good on me was a bowler. Unfortunately, my wife disagrees. She thinks I have a tendency to let my more eccentric choices wear me, and I can’t understand why she doesn’t want me to have a personality. That being said she is really good at this stuff, and mostly I listen to her.

I had been losing a bunch of weight and at the moment I’m pretty well settled in at 5’8” 180 lbs.

I’ve been rebuilding my wardrobe, focusing mostly on nice suits and blazers. I’ve been feverishly working on adding a few hats to the mix with very limited success. I bought the cheapest bowler and Homburg I could find and I have been waging a ‘hearts and minds’ campaign around the house. The bowler is not gaining any traction, but we are about 50/50 on the Homburg. I am highly focused on dress-adjacent styles and materials. I may get a classic fedora to start. My wife seems to think this suits my proportions better than the Homburg shape. I gravitate toward the Homburg because of the dress provenance and I like to be just a hair to the side of the beaten path.

I’ve not historically been a fan of western hats, which is frustrating, because there is a lot of cool stuff going on in the custom western market.

I bought a straw Stetson Open Road, because I like the crown, the brim kinda leans away from heavy western, and I thought it was a low cost point of entry. I took it out of the box and it was an immediate fail, both on looks and fit. I need a long oval block, apparently, and the Stetson was tight front and back and loose on the sides. We both thought it was going to work with my summer suits and it just didn’t look right on. Also I wasn’t prepared for it to be so stiff, though in retrospect it seems like I should have figured that out. We boxed back up and sent it back.

I’ve been working my way up the research food chain to the point where I am almost convinced I’m going to end up with a Panama from Brent Black, a fedora from Optimo and a Homburg from Lock & Co.

One of the problems with this plan is I can’t try any of this stuff before I buy. I live out in the boonies, and traveling to where these hats live is problematic for the most part.

I’m about 2 minutes away from buying a conformateur off of Etsy or something.

TL/DR - help me figure out what hat theoretically works for me (I read that hat guide I found here) and how to get from where I am to where I am going without burning a pallet of money along the way, please and thank you.

The size of the crown on the Open Road feels like it fits me better, but something about the front view isn’t working I don’t think.

Looking at the Open Road and the Homburg side by side the Homburg crown and brim both look a little small. What do you guys think?

Welcome and enjoy. As someone who has worn fedora hats since his teens, I can tell you they will suit anyone. Homburg and bowler/derby hats will too, if you have the confidence to wear them. Brim size and crown size are usually key to finding what fits best. Read around the forum, follow expert posters you notice on here, look at the work produced by the custom hat makers and you'll begin to get a sense of what works for you.

Unfortunately, very few live near good hat stores since they are few and far between and a lot of trial and error is involved. The vintage hats available on eBay and Etsy can be a lower cost entry to trying different styles and can be resold frequently, if not to your liking. Learn about cleaning and refurbishing here and some great hats can fall into your lap. Good luck to you and keep posting how it goes.

 

[Judgmentalist]

Welcome and enjoy. As someone who has worn fedora hats since his teens, I can tell you they will suit anyone. Homburg and bowler/derby hats will too, if you have the seller confidence to wear them. Brim size and crown size are usually key to finding what fits best. Read around the forum, follow expert posters you notice on here, look at the work produced by the custom hat makers and you'll begin to get a sense of what works for you.

Unfortunately, very few live near good hat stores since they are few and far between and a lot of trial and error is involved. The vintage hats available on eBay and Etsy can be a lower cost entry to trying different styles and can be resold frequently, if not to your liking. Learn about cleaning and refurbishing here and some great hats can fall into your lap. Good luck to you and keep posting how it goes.

Thanks - I will do that - thus far I have avoided the vintage market out of fear, ignorance and because the size of my head is hard to replicate in the available stock. I think I’m about a 60-61 long oval, and that’s before you take into account shrinkage from the listed size - for those hats where the information is available. I will keep digging though. that’s half the fun lol

 

[jeffgarf]

Thanks - I will do that - thus far I have avoided the vintage market out of fear, ignorance and because the size of my head is hard to replicate in the available stock. I think I’m about a 60-61 long oval, and that’s before you take into account shrinkage from the listed size - for those hats where the information is available. I will keep digging though. that’s half the fun lol

If you do find the larger sizes you need, reach out to custom hatters like @belfastboy (Robert Gault) or others who can advise you on stretching and reshaping a regular oval to for a long oval. @belfastboy publishes a column in Hat Talk magazine that may have the info, as well.

 

[Judgmentalist]

If you do find the larger sizes you need, reach out to custom hatters like @belfastboy (Robert Gault) or others who can advise you on stretching and reshaping a regular oval to for a long oval. @belfastboy publishes a column in Hat Talk magazine that may have the info, as well.

Thank you - I will look into this.

 

[DaveProc]

Hello everyone

I’m new here. I stumbled onto this place while obsessively researching hats, thinking that this would be a good place to find hats on the resale market. I have instead found amazing boots and jackets .

Seems counterintuitive at first but I think I’m starting to get it - you don’t buy nuts from a squirrel, is the vibe I’m getting lol.

I’ve never worn hats but I’ve always thought the only hat that looked good on me was a bowler. Unfortunately, my wife disagrees. She thinks I have a tendency to let my more eccentric choices wear me, and I can’t understand why she doesn’t want me to have a personality. That being said she is really good at this stuff, and mostly I listen to her.

I had been losing a bunch of weight and at the moment I’m pretty well settled in at 5’8” 180 lbs.

I’ve been rebuilding my wardrobe, focusing mostly on nice suits and blazers. I’ve been feverishly working on adding a few hats to the mix with very limited success. I bought the cheapest bowler and Homburg I could find and I have been waging a ‘hearts and minds’ campaign around the house. The bowler is not gaining any traction, but we are about 50/50 on the Homburg. I am highly focused on dress-adjacent styles and materials. I may get a classic fedora to start. My wife seems to think this suits my proportions better than the Homburg shape. I gravitate toward the Homburg because of the dress provenance and I like to be just a hair to the side of the beaten path.

I’ve not historically been a fan of western hats, which is frustrating, because there is a lot of cool stuff going on in the custom western market.

I bought a straw Stetson Open Road, because I like the crown, the brim kinda leans away from heavy western, and I thought it was a low cost point of entry. I took it out of the box and it was an immediate fail, both on looks and fit. I need a long oval block, apparently, and the Stetson was tight front and back and loose on the sides. We both thought it was going to work with my summer suits and it just didn’t look right on. Also I wasn’t prepared for it to be so stiff, though in retrospect it seems like I should have figured that out. We boxed back up and sent it back.

I’ve been working my way up the research food chain to the point where I am almost convinced I’m going to end up with a Panama from Brent Black, a fedora from Optimo and a Homburg from Lock & Co.

One of the problems with this plan is I can’t try any of this stuff before I buy. I live out in the boonies, and traveling to where these hats live is problematic for the most part.

I’m about 2 minutes away from buying a conformateur off of Etsy or something.

TL/DR - help me figure out what hat theoretically works for me (I read that hat guide I found here) and how to get from where I am to where I am going without burning a pallet of money along the way, please and thank you.

The size of the crown on the Open Road feels like it fits me better, but something about the front view isn’t working I don’t think.

Looking at the Open Road and the Homburg side by side the Homburg crown and brim both look a little small. What do you guys think?

Welcome!

 

[Rmccamey]

Welcome to the Lounge and good hunting. As suggested, spending a few bucks buying and selling on Ebay or Etsy can help you hone into your style without breaking the bank.

Your wife may change her mind when others start to notice your hats. I literally get compliments every time I wear a bowler or a nice homburg.

Hello everyone

I’m new here. I stumbled onto this place while obsessively researching hats, thinking that this would be a good place to find hats on the resale market. I have instead found amazing boots and jackets .

Seems counterintuitive at first but I think I’m starting to get it - you don’t buy nuts from a squirrel, is the vibe I’m getting lol.

I’ve never worn hats but I’ve always thought the only hat that looked good on me was a bowler. Unfortunately, my wife disagrees. She thinks I have a tendency to let my more eccentric choices wear me, and I can’t understand why she doesn’t want me to have a personality. That being said she is really good at this stuff, and mostly I listen to her.

I had been losing a bunch of weight and at the moment I’m pretty well settled in at 5’8” 180 lbs.

I’ve been rebuilding my wardrobe, focusing mostly on nice suits and blazers. I’ve been feverishly working on adding a few hats to the mix with very limited success. I bought the cheapest bowler and Homburg I could find and I have been waging a ‘hearts and minds’ campaign around the house. The bowler is not gaining any traction, but we are about 50/50 on the Homburg. I am highly focused on dress-adjacent styles and materials. I may get a classic fedora to start. My wife seems to think this suits my proportions better than the Homburg shape. I gravitate toward the Homburg because of the dress provenance and I like to be just a hair to the side of the beaten path.

I’ve not historically been a fan of western hats, which is frustrating, because there is a lot of cool stuff going on in the custom western market.

I bought a straw Stetson Open Road, because I like the crown, the brim kinda leans away from heavy western, and I thought it was a low cost point of entry. I took it out of the box and it was an immediate fail, both on looks and fit. I need a long oval block, apparently, and the Stetson was tight front and back and loose on the sides. We both thought it was going to work with my summer suits and it just didn’t look right on. Also I wasn’t prepared for it to be so stiff, though in retrospect it seems like I should have figured that out. We boxed back up and sent it back.

I’ve been working my way up the research food chain to the point where I am almost convinced I’m going to end up with a Panama from Brent Black, a fedora from Optimo and a Homburg from Lock & Co.

One of the problems with this plan is I can’t try any of this stuff before I buy. I live out in the boonies, and traveling to where these hats live is problematic for the most part.

I’m about 2 minutes away from buying a conformateur off of Etsy or something.

TL/DR - help me figure out what hat theoretically works for me (I read that hat guide I found here) and how to get from where I am to where I am going without burning a pallet of money along the way, please and thank you.

The size of the crown on the Open Road feels like it fits me better, but something about the front view isn’t working I don’t think.

Looking at the Open Road and the Homburg side by side the Homburg crown and brim both look a little small. What do you guys think?